UN Social Impact Investing Initiative opens Helsinki office

The global initiative supports Helsinki’s goal of achieving a more significant role for cities in implementing the sustainable development goals.

The goals in Helsinki's latest city strategy closely match the UN's SDGs

The United Nations’ Social Impact Investing Initiative has opened a new office in Helsinki, further bolstering the UN’s presence in Finland.

The Social Impact Investing Initiative (S3I) of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is a programme for promoting the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) in developing countries.

Internationally networked

The S3I office is located at Sofia Future Farm in the heart of the city.

“The city is part of this process of enabling UNOPS to move its S3I operations, and in this concrete way we want to foster the image of Helsinki as a city that is internationally networked and provides a great operating environment for global organisations,” said Jan Vapaavuori, mayor of Helsinki.

“The S3I initiative is of global importance and also supports Helsinki’s goal of a more significant role for cities in implementing the sustainable development goals.”

Helsinki is already the first European city to deliver a sustainable development report to the UN, and according to the city, its report findings show that the goals in its latest city strategy match the UN SDGs very well.

“The S3I initiative is of global importance and also supports Helsinki’s goal of a more significant role for cities in implementing the sustainable development goals”

Opening its new office in Helsinki, the S3I initiative will focus on major infrastructure projects in three sectors: renewable energy; affordable housing; and health.

S3I will operate as project developer, making projects suitable for investment and attracting private investor finance. Impact investing means responsible investment in which the investor aims not only to make a return but to generate a social impact.

The relocation of the UNOPS S3I initiative to Helsinki adds to the UN presence in Finland.

Helsinki already has the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research and Otaniemi in Espoo is home to the UN Technology Innovation Labs.